Ava and Mav look like they are fighting for their lives not to laugh and be serious. They skip out on goodbyes altogether and just wave and dart toward the door.
Not wanting to look any of them in the eye again tonight, I turn and follow close on their heels.
The second the door closes, both of them double over in laughter.
“What the fuck was that?” Mav asks.
I throw my hands in the air. “I don’t know. I panicked. I kissed Aspen without thinking about where we were because that’s normal for us.”
“Then you kissed her sister-in-law and brother,” Ava says, as tears stream down from her eyes. Her words are barely understandable through all the laughter.
“You guys are dicks,” I say. “Let’s get going.”
Mav grabs his keys out of his pocket. “That’s a good idea. Wouldn’t want you kissing anyone else.”
I roll my eyes. This is one of those things I will never live down. I’ve seen each one of them do their fair share of debauchery under the influence, but I think I might have just taken the gold medal home. Even with all that, at least I got to kiss Aspen before going home.
Chapter 4
Aspen
It’s pretty rare that I eat breakfast at my parents’ house, but when you forget to grocery shop and by forget, I mean completely procrastinate, you stop by your parents’ house and eat. I get to hang out with my favorite people and I don’t have to cook, so it’s a win-win.
My dad, who looks more and more like Sam Elliot every day, takes a sip of his coffee. Most of the time when I eat breakfast here, the crew is already gone, starting their workday. Today’s a slow morning on the ranch, so we all get to start our day out together.
“Which one of you yahoos would be willing to run to the city and pick up the trailer I bought off Craigslist? I’d go myself but your mother volunteered me for a lunch date with her friend and her husband,” he says with a grimace.
My dad retired months ago, but it must have only been in thought, because he still gives us random tasks to get done.Lucky for me, I only get volunteered for shopping trips. He hates buying clothes, I love it. Once again, a win-win.
“We’ve got our second-to-last prenatal appointment, sorry,” Mav says as he shovels a steaming pile of cheesy scrambled eggs into his mouth.
I cut off a piece of my own breakfast, a stack of pancakes and scrambled eggs, and shovel it in. My mother was blessed with the special skill of being able to cook exceptionally well without ever even cracking open a cookbook. I did not inherit that skill from her, unfortunately. I’m the only one who lives off the ranch, and it’s usually around dinner time every day when I question that choice. But it gives me a bit more freedom and a place to call my own, so I guess I can make the twenty-minute drive.
“Willow needs me to do some work on the cabins; they’re all booked out and this is the only three-day span we have to get some repairs done. If I bail on her, you will have to bail her out of jail.”
He isn’t joking. Willow left town for ten years to give New York a try and came back with a spine of steel. I take notes from her on how I want to handle my future relationships. Ava is the same way, but Maverick is so damn smitten, I don’t think she ever has to ask for anything twice.
It’s cute watching them all start their lives. Cute, and a bit of a gut punch, because for the second time in my life, I’m the odd one out. Well, I guess Rhett is in the same boat as me.
I remind myself that I am very happy with our current situation. No stress. No commitments. I still get to live my life however I want. There’s a twinge in my gut though. Subtle enough to ignore, but persistent enough where I can’t forget that deep down, I want what they all have. The kind of love that makes bystanders nauseated. My time will come, I know that.
“I can go,” Rhett offers up, looking at me. “You want to come, or do you have big plans today?” He asks.
“Guess I can volunteer a few hours of my time to pull my weight around here,” I joke.
I do feel guilty for not being the most involved on the ranch. It helps that the boys live and breathe for it, though. They love it; it fulfills them.
There's a million things I love about the ranch: the land, the way the wind blows through the pines and leaves everything smelling fresh and clean, and so much more, but the truth is ranching just isn't one of them.
“Thanks, I’ll write down the address.”
We finish up breakfast and head to Rhett’s truck. The Wyoming wind adds a chilly bite to the air this morning.
“Do you want to get coffee at the shop you like?” Rhett asks.
“How do you remember that?” We’ve never visited that coffee shop together; I've only yapped to him about it a couple times. It’s about thirty minutes out of town, and I use any excuse to go out of town just to get a cherry almond breve from there.
“I listen to you…most of the time,” he jokes.
